913 


1 


or 


Clje  Jrottttito  tfoltq  in  ptratew. 


DISCOURSE 


0«    Till 


SOCIAL  AND  MORAL  ADVANTAGES 


or  TUI 


CULTIVATION  OF  LOCAL  LITERATURE. 


BY 

WILLIAM   T./CM3GGESHALL, 

OHIO 


Delivered  before  the  Beta  TheU  Pi  Society  of  Ohio  Uniyenity 
at  the  54th  Commencement,  Jane  22d,  1858. 


COLUMBUS,    OHIO: 

FOLLETT,    FOSTER    AND     COMPANY. 
1859, 


BOOKS  FOB  THE  WEST. 


The  3Poetry  of  the  "West. 

The  I?rose  "Writers  of  the  "West* 

•  •  •  ,        "" 

The  Orators  of  the  "West. 


FOLLETT,  FOSTER  &  CO,, 

COLUMBUS,    OHIO, 

HATE  now  in  course  of  preparation  a  series  of  volumes,  with 
the  above  titles,  designed  to  present  a  just  and  complete  Survey 
of  the  Literature  of  the  West 

These  works  will  be  edited  by  gentlemen  of  acknowledged 
fitness,  and  will  be  printed  in  the  first  style,  on  superior  paper. 
Each  volume  will  contain  about  600  octavo  pages. 

Contributions  and  Selections,  or  suggestions,  are  respectfully 
solicited*  All  communications  will  receive  prompt  attention* 

Address 

;  POSTER  &  CO., 

PUBLISHERS, 

Columlus,  Ohio* 


Cjft  f  rotwtite  foliqj  in  f iterator*. 


DISCOURSE 


ON  THI 


SOCIAL  AND  MORAL  ADVANTAGES 


or  THI 


CULTIVATION  OF  LOCAL  LITERATURE. 


BY 

WILLIAM   T.   COGGESHALL, 

oiiio  gr ATI  UBiuftUlf . 


tefort  th«  Beta  Thet*  Pi  Society  of  Ohio  University 
At  the  54lh  Commencement,  June  22d,  1858. 


COLUMBUS,   OHIO: 

FOLLETT,    FOSTEB    AMD    OOMPANT. 
1859. 


mm 


DUOPAGE 

''          •* 
1 

)  Reproduced  by  XEROGRAPHY 
by  Micro  Photo  Inc. 
Cleveland  12t  Ohio 


13' 


THE  WEST  AND  ITS  LITERATURE. 


'HEN  I  was  invited  to  stand  in  this  place  to-night, 
distrusting  my  fitness  for  such  a  position,  I  could  not 
accept  the  responsibility  it  would  impose,  until  I  had 
determined  the  purpose  of  a  Discourse, 
It  was  with  great  diffidence  and  deep  embarrassment,  I  seri 
ously  took  up  that  question,  I  could  not  be  mistaken  in  the 
character  of  the  audience  to  which  I  would  speak,  I  was  in* 
vited  by  a  Literary  Society  composed  of  young  men,  who  are 
goon,  with  cultivated  minds  and  willing  hands,  to  go  forth  into 
the  world  to  forge  out  careers  for  themselves,  I  knew  that  my 
voice  would  be  heard  within  the  walls  of  the  first  general  Insti 
tution  of  Learning  provided  for,  by  the  liberal  foresight  of  Con 
gress,  in  the  Great  West,  Bearing  in  mind  that  this  Institution 
geeks  to  develop  character  becoming  the  vigor  and  independ 
ence  of  prosperous  intelligence,  I  was  led  to  reflect  whether  it 
would  not  be  peculiarly  approfriate  to  plead  before  the  Students 
and  Teachers,  the  thinkers  and  workers,  here  assembled,  the 
advantages  of  cultivating  a  Literature  in  the  West,  which  will 
represent  its  history  and  its  capacities — its  people,  their  oppor 
tunities  and  their  purposes. 

When  I  had  decided  upon  that  theme,  I  did  not  fear  an  im 
putation  of  "  sectionalism."  Literature  which  lives  represents 
the  spirit  of  a  people.  In  that  sense  it  must  be  "  sectional,"  or 

local ;  in  a  word,  native. 

*  * 

612 


4  A    DISCOURSE. 

From  the  earliest  Hebrew,  Chaldaic,  or  Egyptian  records, 
through  Grecian,  Roman,  German,  Spanish,  French  or  English, 
"  sectionalism"  has  been  a  vitalizing  power — sectionalism,  not  as 
a  subservient  spirit  devoted  to  selfish  purposes  for  narrow  ends, 
but  truthfulness  to  the  animating  characteristics  of  thought  and 
action  among  an  individual  people* 

Plato  and  Demosthenes,  Caesar  and  Cicero,  Luther  and  Cal 
vin,  Shakspeare  and  Goethe,  Voltaire  and  Calderon,  Milton  and 
Moliere,  were  "  sectionalists."  So  are  Bryant  and  Longfellow, 
Bancroft  and  Irving,  Willis  and  Cooper.  American  literature 
was  unrecognized,  in  the  world's  highest  courts  of  criticism,  half 
a  century  ago,  because  it  was  not  pervaded  with  the  special  char 
acteristics  of  the  forming  nation.  Western  literature,  though  in 
a  lively  degree  representing  Pioneer  men  and  Pioneer  times, 
has  been  disregarded,  as  a  distinct  power,  in  the  general  interest 
for  welcome  to  whatever,  springing  out  of  seaboard  cities,  has 
been  creditable  to  the  national  character* 

Let  us  inquire  why. 

It  is  a  law  of  mental  and  physical  philosophy,  that  the  char 
acter  of  a  people  depends  greatly  upon  the  advantages,  or  disad 
vantages,  of  the  country  it  inhabits. 

The  most  favorable  natural  condition  for  the  healthful  devel 
opment  of  a  people,  i*  in  n  climate  and  upon  a  soil  which  require, 
but  which  generously  reward,  judicious  industry. 

That  is  the  character,  preeminently,  of  the  soil  and  climate 
which  have  attracted  emigrants  from  all  quarters  of  the  globe  to 

"  The  land  of  the  Weit,  green  forest  land," 

fitly  apostrophized  by  William  D.  Gallagher  as  the 


11  Clime  of  the  fair  and  the  ImraebM, 
Favorite  of  Nature'*  liberal  band, 
And  child  of  her  munificence." 


'  Its  mountains  and  valleys  and  plains — Its  great  rivers  and  inland 
seas,  bless  a  people,  whose  ancestry  had  peculiar  incentives  to 


A     DISCOURSE.  6 

industry— who,  with  mental  cultivation,  braving  peril  and  depri 
vation,  vigorously  started  a  new  life.  Having  no  use  for  the 
conventionalities  to  which  they  had  been  accustomed,  they  could 
afford  manners  and  customs  becoming  their  new  relations,  and, 
consequently,  it  is  said  with  truth,  that  western  men  are  frank, 
generous,  prompt ;  perhaps  rude ;  it  may  be  rough,  according  to 
the  rules  of  polite  society. 

Daniel  Boone  and  Simon  Kenton,  Davy  Crockett  and  George 
Rogers  Clark,  Rufus  Putnam  and  William  Henry  Harrison, 
were  types  of  the  character  which  fought  the  Indians,  hunted  the 
bear  and  tho  deer  and  the  buffalo,  conquered  the  wilderness,  and 
organized  States. 

The  antithesis  of  characteristics  which  distinguished  their 
public  lives,  were  not  more  deeply  marked  than  the  contrasts  to 
have  been  met,  in  camps  and  circles,  never  known  out  of  the 
forest  or  the  settlement.  Heroism,  in  the  sense  of  self-sacrificing 
devotion  to  a  definite  purpose,  was  a  necessity  of  pioneer  life ; 
and  self-reliance  shone  as  an  eminent  characteristic  of  Western 
Society,  when  general  observation  was  first  attracted  to  it  as  an 
element  in  national  councils. 

The  social  history  of  the  early  West  exposes  need  of  culture, 
but  it  evinces  virtue,  and  its  political  history  evinces  wisdom. 
Consequently  it*  amazingly  augmenting  power  can  be  explained 
as  clearly  as  a  mathematical  problem.  Self-reliant  industry 
upon  a  generous  soil,  shaded  by  hills  and  forests,  brightened  by 
navigable  rivers— social  vi-tue  and  political  wisdom— these  won 
the  epithet  great  for  the  West,  and  upon  these  does  security  for 
the  worthiness  of  that  epithet  depend,  in  whatever  respect  it 
may  be  used,  not  implying  extent  of  domain. 

It  is  said  that  a  frontier  merchant  is  at  onco  recognized  in 
New  York,  by  his  self-reliance,  his  independence ;  it  may  be, 
his  rude  generosity.  The  half-horse,  half-alligator  caricatures  of 
Western  peculiarities  which  have  prevailed,  had  a  natural  sig 
nificance  in  the  stamp  pioneer  life  gave  its  inheritors. 


6  A    DISCOURSE 

When  a  thorough-bred  Yankee,  a  regular  down-Easter,  cornea  - 
aout  west,"  with  his  cautious  care  of  sixpences,  he  is  as  surely 
known  as  a  fresh  Hollander,  or  an  Irishman  with  hrogans ;  and, 
hot  until  he  is  so  transformed  that  he  can  speak  as  if  he  were 
not  afraid  of  wasting  his  voice,  does  he  cease  to  be  an  object  of 
scrutiny. 

It  is  well  worthy  of  remark,  that  while  Western  Society  is 
required  to  harmonize  countless  conflicting  peculiarities,  which 
accompany  emigrants  from  all  quarters  of  the  globe,  it  so  far 
preserves  its  original  force  of  character,  that  it  is  competent  to 
liberalize  the  shrewd  New  Englander,  who,  after  forty  years* 
wear  and  tear  on  a  sterile  farm,  or  in  a  narrow  counting-house, 
comes  West,  with  a  long  face,  deploring  the  necessity  of  relin* 
quiahing  good  society  for  the  companionship  of  wide  corn-fields, 
fat  oxen,  big  pigs  and  land  warrants,  or  town  lots  and  railway 
scrip. 

But  the  modification  of  character  which  overcomes  the  immi 
grant  in  the  West,  is  owing  in  a  great  degree  to  an  influence 
which  always  underlies  progress.  It  exists  in  distrust  for  the 
past  and  hope  for  the  future,  inspiring  a  willingness  to  adopt  and 
encourage  whatever  promises  prosperity. 

This  influence  led  the  earliest  pioneer,  and  it  leads  the  latest 
Immigrant,  if  he  comes  hither  for  good  purpose.  In  the  language 
of  a  writer  who  has  studied  the  history  of  the  West,  and  who 
appreciates  her  opportunities :  * 

a  What,  till  within  a  few  years  past,  the  onward-coming  mul 
titudes  have  found  on  arriving  here,  has  been,  chiefly,  physical 
sufficiency,  great  intellectual  expertness,  a  degree  of  moral  inde* 
pendence  wholly  new  to  them,  and  capacity  for  almost  indefinite 
extension,  either  morally,  intellectually  or  physically.  Coming 
in  upon  us  by  hundreds  and  thousands,  as  they  now  are  and  for 
years  have  been,  their  gentler  and  fiercer  passions,  like  meadow 

•  William  D.  GalUch"— HUtortcal  Addmi,  IS—. 


A     DISCOURSE.  '*          .7 

rivulets  and  mountain  torrents,  mixing  in  with  and  modifying 
our  own,  and  their  art,  science  and  literature,  their  hard-hand* 
edness  and  willing-heartedness,  and  their  experiences  of  life 
generally  giving  to  and  receiving  from  ours  new  impulses  and 
new  directions,  the  whole  eoon  to  flow  together  in  one  common 
stream  of  Humanity,  which  will  be  found  irresistible  by  any 
barriers  that  may  oppose  its  course,  must  inevitably  give  new 
and  peculiar  aspects  to  the  region  and  the  era  wherein  it  holds 
its  way,  *  *  •  * 

w  Out  of  the  crude  materials,  collected  and  collecting  in  the 
North- Weit^—materials  that  are  just  now  taking  forms  of  Byra- 
metry,  and  exhibiting  a  bomogeneousness  that  has  not  heretofore 
belonged  to  them'— are  to  come  arts  and  institutions  and  educa* 
lions  better  fitted  for  the  uses  and  enjoyments  of  man,  and  more 
promotive  of  those  high  developments  that  are  within  the 
capacities  of  his  nature,  than  anything  which  the  world  has  yet 
seen.  •  *  * 

"  Here,  on  this  magnificent  domain— this  undulating  plain- 
that  extends  from  the  beautiful  bases  of  the  Allegheny  Mount 
ains  to  the  broad,  fertile  shores  of  the  Mississippi  River,  and 
stretches  its  arms  from  near  the  36th  quite  to  the  42d  degree  of 
north  latitude— are  in  time  to  be  witnessed  the  freest  forms  of 
social  development,  and  the  highest  order  of  human  civilization." 

Enthusiasm  animated  the  pen  of  the  writer  whose  words  I 
have  quoted,  but  it  was  enthusiasm  tempered  by  judgment ;  it 
grew  out  of  a  liberal  estimate  of  natural  opportunity.  •  +  • 

The  conditions  of  the  superior  human  advancement,  possible, 
in  the  lapse  of  time,  through  that  opportunity,  depend  on  well- 
directed  industry,  bumanitary  ingenuity  and  political  wisdom ; 
but  all  of  these  depend  upon  social  characteristics,  for  upon  social 
characteristics — upon  domestic  life— in  the  widest  degree,  rest 
the  morals  of  a  people ;  and  the  morals  of  a  people  are  purified 
or  corrupted  by  their  literature — the  literature  they  produce. 

The  world's  history  is  marked  by  periods  to  which  literature 


8  A     DISCOURSE. 

gave  character,  and  these  periods  are  among  the  brightest  on  the 
scroll  of  Time.  Songs  and  Poems,  Orations  and  Histories,  with 
their  encouragements  and  warnings,  are  valued  in  all  influential 
society,  with  higher  and  deeper  reverence  than  whatever  else 
the  proudest  nations  produced.  They  are  not  only  inspiring  for 
themselves,  hut  they  preserve  whatever  was  inspiring  among  the 
people  from  whom  they  proceeded. 

The  record  of  the  world's  action,  as  it  appears  in  monument* 
or  mausoleums,  in  pagodas  or  palaces,  in  pyramids  or  temples, 
does  not  teach  that  honor  and  usefulness  are  what  men  should 
have  ambition  for.  These  noble  lessons  lie  in  the  literature, 
spoken  from  the  pulpit,  on  the  rostrum  or  in  the  forum,  upon  the 
highway  or  in  the  cloister,  which,  through  its  agents,  that  now 
search  every  cabin,  the  Printing  Press,  reproduces  and  renews. 

Books  are  the  most  enduring  of  human  possessions.  Litera 
ture  is  alone,  of  human  instrumentalities,  a  pervading  spirit 
which  Time  cannot  destroy — a  spirit  which  animated  tradition 
when  time,  with  man,  was  young,  and  took  form  and  comeliness 
in  poetry  and  history — a  spirit  for  which  ingenuity  has  toiled 
through  all  the  centuries  of  the  past,  and  to  which  the  highest 
forms  of  human  aspiration  now  do  reverence. 

Nature's  affinities  are  not  monopolized  in  the  natural  sciences. 
The  mental  as  well  as  the  material  world  has  its  attractions  and 
its  repulsions.  Literature,  in  the  broadest  sense,  is  the  medium 
of  their  transmission  from  one  man — from  one  age  or  from  one 
nation  to  another. 

Music  has  tones  which  act  responsive  to  peculiar  human  emo 
tions,  and  so  has  Literature;  but  there  are  melodies  which 
inspire  all  humanity,  and  there  are  literary  utterances  which 
find  echo  wherever  there  is  a  human  heart.  These  utterances 
are  among  the  surest  evidences  of  the  cultivation  of  the  right 
spirit  of  literature  by  a  people,  but  often  they  burst  forth  in 
signal  rebuke  of  indifference  to  that  spirit. 

Greece  and  Rome,  England  and  France,  Germany  and  Spain* 


JL     DISCOURSE.  9 

through  their  authors,  have  quiet  homes  of  love  and  respect  in 
the  hearts  of  the  cultivated  every  where.  Neither  successful 
warriors,  nor  shrewd  diplomats,  nor  wise  statesmen,  have  as 
general  respect  as  standard  writers ;  nor  does  mechanism,  nor 
even  the  art  of  the  printer  or  the  sculptor,  hold  rank,  in  univer 
sality  of  recognition,  with  literature*  It  is  the  servant  of  the 
Statesman  and  the  Artist,  the  Artisan  and  the  Agriculturist; 
and  that  their  uses  and  purposes,  their  glories  and  beauties,  may 
be  fully  appreciated,  every  people  aspiring  to  greatness  must 
cultivate  literature.  Just  appreciation  will  prevent  it  from  be* 
coming  the  slave  of  whatever  is  bad  in  politics  or  war,  of  what 
ever  is  a  defamation  of  Art;  consequently  all  the  questions 
which  affect  the  prosperity  and  happiness  of  a  people,  enter  into 
their  cultivation  of  a  literature. 

The  citizen  who  is  sensitive  to  his  varied  obligations,  recog 
nizes  a  duty  in  the  support  of  all  the  instrumentalities  of  instruc 
tion,  and  he  knows  literature,  in  even  its  technical  sense,  to  be 
among  the  most  important  The  good  man  lives  in  conscious 
ness  of  obligations  to  good  literature,  which  cannot  be  dissevered 
from  his  duties  to  family,  church,  and  government. 

The  solidarity  of  a  literature  is  not  established  in  a  genera 
tion.  Poetry,  History,  or  Romance,  Science  or  Belles  Lettres, 
may  have  representatives,  within  the  first  age  of  a  people,  whose 
individuality  is  distinct ;  but  each  and  all  must  gain  recognition, 
independently  of  the  people  from  which  they  spring,  before  it 
can  be  said  that  a  national  literature  exists.  It  is  not  enough, 
either,  that  a  national  literature  exists.  It  is  required  of  a 
nation,  which  combines  wide  differences  of  characteristics,  that 
each  shall  have  its  own  representation. 

A  Republic  of  letters  may  be  a  confederacy  of  individualities, 
as  well  as  that  a  Republic  in  politics  may  be  a  confederacy  of 
States. 

In  Commerce,  in  Mechanics,  in  Agriculture,  in  Politics,  the 
West  has  recognized  individuality;  but  the  poetry,  romance, 


10  A     DISCOURSE, 

and  history  peculiar  to  it— inspired  by  its  natural  advantages- 
woven  into  its  traditions— developed  in  its  settlement— do  not 
significantly  animate  a  literature  which  the  popular  will  accredits. 

Tomahawks  and  wigwams,  sharp-shooting  and  hard  fights,  log 
cabins,  rough  speech,  dare-devil  boldness,  bear-hunting  and 
corn-husking,  prairie  fiowers,  bandits,  lynch-law  and  no-law-at- 
all,  miscellaneously  mixed  into  "25  cent  novels,"  printed  on 
poor  paper  and  stitched  between  yellow  covers,  represent  the 
popular  idea  of  Western  Literature* 

Two  years  ago,  on  a  steamboat  trip  down  the  Ohio  River,  I 
met  a  young  man  fresh  from  a  counting-house  in  Rhode  Island. 
He  was  a  very  intelligent  young  man,  in  the  general  acceptation 
of  that  phrase,  but  he  had  many  stupid  opinions  about  the  West 
He  learned  that  I  was  from  Cincinnati,  and  he  was  curious  to 
know  all  about  Porkopolis.  In  perfect  candor,  and  "  only  for 
information,"  he  deliberately  asked  me  whether  the  noise  and 
stench,  occasioned  by  the  immense  slaughter  of  hogs,  did  not 
make  life  in  the  city  almost  intolerable*  I  discovered,  in  con 
versation  with  him,  that  he  imagined  Porkopolis  to  be  composed, 
in  about  equal  proportion,  of  pig  pens  and  poorly  constructed 
business  and  dwelling  houses*  Reasoning  from  what  he  had 
seen  of  hog-killing  in  the  town-yards  of  Yankee  land,  he  sup 
posed  that  the  citizens  of  the  great  metropolis  for  ham  and 
bacon,  must  dwell  in  the  midst  of  alarms  to  eye  and  ear  and 
nose.  His  idea  of  Cincinnati  was  just  about  as  intelligent  as 
that  entertained  by  most  people  concerning  what  literature  the 
West  has  failed  to  encourage* 

For  the  popular  opinion,  that  whatever  individuality  Western 
Literature  has,  belongs  to  the  shock-your-nerves,  excite-your* 
wonder  school,  there  are  two  prominent  reasons :  First,  because 
that  opinion  agrees  with  the*  popular  idea  of  pioneer  life  \  sec 
ond,  because  the  descendants,  or  successors,  ef  the  early  pioneers 
have  not  endeavored  to  maintain  an  individual  or  home  litera 
ture  of  a  higher  character. 


A     DISCOURSE.  11 

If  any  poem,  or  oration,  or  history,  or  romance,  or  essay,  has 
given  honor  to  the  West,  it  was  a  spontaneous  production,  in 
defiasce  to  public  indifference,  and  it  failed  to  disturb  that  indif 
ference  until  New  York  or  London  had  pronounced  upon  it. 

The  pioneers  were  not  always  men  of  culture;  but  they  were 
not  merely  hunters,  who  could  only  appreciate  the  merits  of  a 
rifle,  or  take  delight  in  "bear  signs"  and  " deer  tracks."  They 
were  brave,  intelligent  men,  capable  of  culture,  and  when  social 
circles  could  be  encouraged  in  their  settlements,  they  demanded 
literature.  In  young  cities,  men  of  hope  and  trust  presumed 
upon  this  demand,  and  newspapers  were  issued,  and  magazines 
were  printed,  and  books  were  published ;  but  the  pioneer  looked 
out  of  the  woods  for  every  thing  which  his  simple  habits  requir 
ed,  excepting  grain  and  meat.  He  would  not  believe  that  the 
forest  could  give  him  literature,  His  affections  were  with  the 
bookstores,  and  at  the  printing  offices  he  had  known  in  his  youth; 
consequently  the  western  authors,  printers  and  publishers,  were 
left  to  act  the  part  of  pioneers,  in  fields  supporting  a  thick 
growth  of  prejudice,  which  had  to  be  cleared  away  before  con 
fidence  could  be  cultivated. 

The  society  of  young  towns  and  cities  and  farms  waited  to 
geo  whether  young  newspapers  and  young  editors  and  young 
publishers  would  succeed  or  not,  and  it  witnessed  melancholy 
failures  which  but  served  to  confirm  the  prejudice  that  crushed 
out  hope  and  paralyzed  enterprise, 

Many  of  the  unsuccessfil  did  not  understand  their  own 
powers,  nor  what  their  enterprises  required;  but  there  were 
among  them  men  and  women,  who,  with  fair  encouragement, 
would  long  ago  have  secured  the  West  a  recognized  place  of 
honor  in  the  literary  history  of  America. 

The  first  literary  center  in  the  West  was  Cincinnati,  There 
the  first  newspaper  ever  published  in  our  great  inland  valley 
made  its  appearance  on  the  9th  day  of  November,  1798.  Cin 
cinnati  was  then  five  yean  old,  and  contained  about  500  inhab* 


)  A     DISCOURSE, 

itante.  The  first  book  written  and  printed  in  tbe  North-West  was 
published  at  Cincinnati  in  1809.  Between  tbe  years  1811  and 
1815,  there  were  twelve  books,  averaging  about  200  pages  each, 
printed  in  the  Queen  City.  In  1819  tbe  North-West  had  its  first 
literary  journal.  It  was  called  the  Literary  Cadet,  and  appeared 
on  the  22d  day  of  November,  in  the  year  mentioned,  (1819). 
Only  twenty-three  numbers  of  the  Cadet  were  issued.  In  1824 
Cincinnati  had  a  second  literary  paper,  and  it  has  had  thirteen 
since,  all  of  which  are  dead.' 

The  first  literary  magazine  of  the  Great  West  appeared  at 
Lexington,  Kentucky,  in  1819,  and  in  1827  the  second  was  pro 
jected  at  Cincinnati,  in  which  city  seventeen  have  since  died. 

Of  all  the  books  published  in  the  West  between  1800  and 
1854,  not  one  attained  national  success ;  but  works  by  western 
authors,  published  at  the  east,  have  been  universally  popular* 
To  the  present  generation  there  is  not  known  one  in  a  hundred 
of  the  names  that  have  been  linked  with  the  valuable  in  the 
writings  of  the  valley  of  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  during  thirty 
years  past* 

Those  who  are  familiar  with  the  magazines  and  newspapers 
that  failed,  or  those  whose  experiences  of  life  reach  into  the 
pioneer  period,  have  recollections  of  which  they  are  proud ;  but 
a  majority  of  the  present  citizens  of  Ohio  or  Kentucky  or  Indi 
ana  or  Illinois  or  Michigan,  have  quite  as  little  knowledge  of  the 
real  merit  of  the  literature  of  the  past  in  the  West  as  they  have 
of  the  color  or  condition  of  the  people  who  constructed  the 
mounds  of 

"The  region  of  •unMt.'» 

Within  a  period  often  years,  counting  backward  and  forward 
from  1830,  there  existed  a  literary  circle  of  which  Cincinnati 
was  the  center,  which,  as  a  whole,  has  never  had  a  superior  in 
America. 

Among  those  who  were  influential  in  that  circle,  I  may  men- 


A     DISCOURSE,  •       Id 

tion  the  cames  of  William  Henry  Harrison,  Timothy  Flint, 
Micah  P.  Flint,  Daniel  Drake,  James  Hall,  Jacob  Burnet,  Ben 
jamin  F.  Drake,  Edward  D.  Mansfield,  William  D.  Gallagher, 
Otway  Curry,  8.  P.  Hildreth,  L.  A.  Hine,  Caroline  Lee  Hentz, 
Rebecca  S.  Nichols,  Thos.  H.  Shreve,  F.  W,  Thomas,  Lyman 
Beecher,  Charles  Hammond,  Elisha  Whittlesey,  Albert  Pike, 
L.  J.  Cist,  James  II.  Perkins,  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe,  Eliza  A, 
Dupuy,  Amelia  Welby,  Sarah  T.  Bolton,  and  John  B.  Dillon. 
These  names,  and  others  I  could  call,  are  familiar  to  all  intel 
ligent  persons,  but  that  their  owners  made  valiant,  though  vain 
effort  for  literary  support  in  the  West  twenty -five  years  ago,  is 
a  fact  unacknowledged  in  the  public  mind.  It  ia  a  popular  Bay 
ing  that 

••  WMtvard  ih«  it»r  of  Eraplr*  taktt  tu  w»j,»» 

The  history  of  the  world  shows  that  he  who  uttered  that  say 
ing  was  a  philosopher  as  well  as  a  poet.  But  literary  history 
in  the  West  teaches  that  the  westward  marching  look  back  for 
civilization,  and  that  by  example,  if  not  by  precept,  they  teach 
their  children  to  look  for  literary  as  well  as  natural  light  toward 
sunrise.  Therefore  does  it  happen  now-a-days,  that  sUu-s  which 
rise  with  a  dim  lustre  in  the  literary  or  dramatic  or  artistic 
world  of  the  east,  become  luminaries  of  the  first  magnitude  when 
they  deign  to  shine  on  our  valleys. 

The  religion  of  the  Persians,  who  worship  the  god  of  day,  has 
devotees  in  show,  if  not  in  substance,  in  the  western  hemifl-  - 
phere,  for  though  we  do  not  worship  the  sun  as  a  divine  emblem, 
we  cultivate  the  idea  of  an  association  of  mental  with  material 
illumination  in  our  disparagement  of  the  occidental  and  our  ex 
pectancy  concerning  the  oriental. 

There  is  a  popular  notion  that  the  western  sections  of  a  city 
are  more  healthful  than  the  eastern,  because  currents  of  air  are 
continually  wafting  the  smoke  and  dust  eastward.  Whether 
this  be  true  as  a  principle  of  hygiene  or  not,  it  is  true  that  cur- 


14  A    DISCOURSE. 

rents  of  thought  ran  eastward  which  cany  reward  and  encour 
agement  away  from  the  toiling  in  shops  and  offices,  in  studios 
and  libraries,  to  the  detriment,  not  only  of  literature  in  the 
ideal,  but  of  morals  and  industry  in  the  actual. 

In  the  year  1839,  James  H.  Perkins  contributed  to  the  New 
York  Review  an  article  on  "Western  Literature,"  in  which  he 
said: 

"The  first  thing  that  strikes  us  is  the  amount  of  foreign  liter 
ature*  Not  a  novel  of  any  note  comes  from  the  London  press 
but  may  be  met  with  everywhere,  from  Pittsburgh  to  the  Yellow 
stone — from  New  Orleans  to  the  falls  of  St.  Anthony.  Byron 
thought  it  something  like  fame  to  be  read  in  America,  but  in 
our  day  it  proves  no  merit  in  a  writer  that  his  works  circulate 
to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  *  *  *  *  Most  of  this  foreign 
literature  comes  from  eastern  publishers,  and  is,  of  course,  the 
same  which  they  circulate  in  the  Atlantic  States. 

"The  chief  reading  of  the  stirring  men  of  the  West  relates 
to  stirring  men.  *  *  *  Western  ta>te  demands  something 
which  tells  of  men  of  life,  of  battle,  of  suffering,  of  heroism,  skill 
and  wisdom,  or  else  something  which  addresses  man's  highest 
nature,  his  holiest  and  deepest  feelings.  *  *  *  The  west* 
ern  people  love  western  history,  not  the  history  of  the  common 
events  of  civil  life>  of  laws,  treaties  and  hum-drum  times  of 
peace ;  but  of  the  stirring  frontier  incidents ;  of  the  struggles  of 
the  backwoodsman.  *  *  *  Having  a  knowledge  of  the 
prevalent  love  of  the  mass,  western  writers  have  almost  buried 
the  truly  noble  leaders  of  the  pioneer  bands  under  reiterated 
accounts  of  their  doings,  and  yet,  a  full,  living,  trustworthy  ac 
count  of  those  men,  such  an  one  as  ought  to  be  written,  is 
wanting." 

Mr.  Perkins  wrote  truly,  and  the  want  to  which  he  referred 
has  not  yet  been  supplied,  chiefly  because  the  people  have 
oftenest  applauded  and  most  liberally  rewarded  those  of  their 
own  authors,  who  aim  to  construct  highly-wrought  legends  or 


A     DISCOURSE,  15 

romances,  or  who  speculate  glowingly  upon  astonishing  static 
tics  which  entice  capital, 

Cotcmporaneous  with  Mr.  Perkins's  article,  William  D,  Galla 
gher  published  one,  in  which  he  said : 

"  To  supply  the  demand  for  select  current  reading,  the  East 
ern  States  have  four  quarterly  reviews,  twelve  or  fifteen  month 
lies,  and  something  like  a  score  of  weekly  literary  papers, 
together  with  twenty  or  thirty  large  miscellaneous  sheets  of  the 
family  class.  The  Western  States,  with  an  equal  population, 
have — what  ?  Three  specimens  of  the  family  class,  one  weekly 
literary  paper,  and  three  monthly  magazines.  *  *  *  Eight 
millions  of  people,  one  in  eoil,  territory  and  government,  looking 
to  another  eight  millions  to  furnish  a  literature.  Independent 
in  every  thing  else,  the  West  relies  upon  the  Eastern  States  and 
upon  the  old  world  for  literary  aliment." 

These  words  of  complaint,  from  Mr.  Gallagher's  pen,  apply 
with  more  significance  to  the  year  1859  than  they  did  to  1839. 
With  our  increase  of  population,  with  tho  development  of  our 
material  resources,  Atlantic  literary  preponderance  keeps  pace. 
Markets  for  our  grain  and  salt  and  iron  are  not  only  brought 
near  to  us,  but  literary  circles  are  made  our  immediate  neigh 
bors,  and  without  taking  the  trouble  to  ask  whether  the  ability 
to  supply  our  literary  demands  exists,  if  we  want  a  poem,  an 
address,  or  a  lecture,  our  first  impulse  is  to  telegraph  for  second 
hand  wares,  which  some  society  over  the  mountains  or  over  the 
ocean  has  put  aside, 

If  our  best  policy  requires  that  writers  and  preachers  and 
lecturers  for  the  West  should  have  a  seaboard  indorsement, 
why  does  it  not  require  that  we  should  send  to  salt  water  for 
our  Governors,  our  Senators  and  Representatives.  Doughfaces 
are  at  a  discount  now,  and  specimens  plastic  enough  to  answer 
any  tone  in  the  public  voice  anxiously  await  orders. 

Popular  sentiment  requires  that  those  who  come  among  us 
with  strange  words  in  their  mouths  and  strange  manners  and 


16  A     DISCOURSE. 

customs  and  opinions  in  their  daily  work  and  pleasure,  should 
adapt  themselves  to  their  new  relations,  forgetting  not  home  and 
country,  but  prejudices  and  preferences  which  better  life  and 
wider  opportunity  rebuke.  Why  has  not  the  same  policy  ap 
plication  to  him  who  crosses  only  mountains  as  well  as  to  him 
who  crosses  oceans ;  not  to  disparagement  of  what  is  beyond 
mountains  or  seas,  that  is  worthy  of  regard,  but  only  in  rebuke 
•f  neglect  of  what  is  here,  simply  because  it  a  comes  out  of 
Nazareth?" 

It  cannot  be  argued,  that  absence  of  liberal  encouragement 
demonstrates  un worthiness  in  the  literature  which  the  West  has 
inspired.  That  argument  would  condemn  the  opinions  of  the 
present,  upon  many  standard  works  of  art  and  literature,  and  it 
would  overthrow  established  doctrines  of  philosophy  and  re* 
ligion* 

Posterity  takes  delight  in  reversing  the  judgments  which  co- 
temporary  jealousy  or  partiality  placed  upon  the  efforts  of  noto 
rious  or  obscure  men.  It  is  full  time  that,  out  of  self-respect, 
the  West  awarded  to  its  pioneer  writers  the  poor  justice  of  ac 
knowledgment  of  service,  and  encourage  thereby  strivings  of 
Genius,  which  shall  accomplish  what  is  worthy  of  the  example 
of  the  past,  the  inspiration  of  the  present,  and  the  promise  of 
the  future* 

Periodical  literature  in  the  West  twenty  years  ago  was  supe 
rior,  incomparably,  in  all  most-to-be-desired  qualities,  to  that 
which,  associated  with  fashion  plates  and  baby  dresses,  with  pat 
terns  for  night-caps  and  recipes  for  the  toilet,  may  now  be  found 
on  the  center  tables  of  every  model  parlor  in  any  western  town  ; 
and  yet  the  w  WESTERN  REVIEW,"  projected  at  Lexington, 
Kentucky,  in  1819,  by  William  Gibbes  Hunt,  a  scholar  and  an 
industrious,  tasteful  writer;  the  "WESTERN  MONTHLY  RE* 
VIEW,"  by  Timothy  Flint,  begun  in  Cincinnati  in  1827;  the 
M  ILLINOIS  MAGAZINE,"  started  at  Vandalia,  Illinois,  by  James 
Hall,  in  1829 ;  the  "  HESPERIAN,"  conducted  by  Wm.  D.  Gal- 


A      DISCOURSE.  17 

lagher  and  Otway  Curry,  at  Columbus,  Ohio,  in  1828 ;  the 
<*  LITERARY  REVIEW,"  at  Cincinnati,  by  L.  A.  Hine  and  E.  Z, 
Judson,  in  1844 ;  the  "  WESTERN  LITERARY  MESSENGER,"  by 
George  Brewster,  at  Columbus,  Ohio,  in  1850 ;  the  "  GENIUS 
OF  THE  WEST,"  by  Howard  Durbin,  in  1854 ;  and  all  of  later 
date,  "  good,  bad,  and  indifferent,"  whether  of  Ohio,  Indiana,  II* 
linois,  Kentucky,  or  Michigan,  failed  for  want  of  support,  within 
three  years  of  their  origin,  excepting  the  "  LADIES'  REPOSI 
TORY,"  of  Cincinnati,  first  published  in  1841 ;  which,  indeed,  is 
not  to  be  considered  independently  a  literary  magazine,  because 
it  is  the  favorite  of  a  powerful  church, 

It  is  universally  conceded  among  those  who  know  the  charac 
ter  of  literary  enterprises  in  the  West,  that  had  merit  been  all 
that  was  needed  to  insure  success,  the  editors  and  proprietors  of 
at  least  half  a  score  of  magazines  and  newspapers  had  been 
handsomely  rewarded.  With  them  were  associated,  as  writers, 
all  the  men  and  women  whose  names  I  have  mentioned,  and 
many  others  worthy  to  be  mentioned ;  and  in  their  columns  were 
published  Essays,  Reviews,  Tales,  Sketches,  and  Poems,  which 
were  not  only  indorsed  by  New  York  and  Boston,  but  which 
were  republished  in  Europe,  and  have  found  their  way  into 
school  books  that  are  universally  popular. 

If  neither  ability,  scholarship,  industry,  enthusiasm  nor  tact 
was  wanting,  why  have  literary  enterprises,  on  the  sunset  side 
of  the  Alleghanies,  been  signally  disastrous  ?  It  cannot  be  de 
nied,  that  a  majority  of  the  projectors  of  these  enterprises  did 
not  command  the  pecuniary  resources  necessary  to  establish  a 
business  requiring  the  cultivation  of  confidence ;  but,  oiler  all, 
the  chief  cause  lies  where  I  have,  more  than  once,  traced  it — in 
servile  dependence  upon  the  Atlantic  States,  and  in  ungenerous 
distrust  of  home  energy,  home  honesty,  and  home  capacity. 

Now,  I  protest  against  the  thoughtlessness,  or  selfishness,  or 
jealousy,  which  exemplifies,  in  modern  tunes,  the  New  Testa* 
meat axiom,  that  "a  prophet  ia  not  without  honor  save  in  his 

2  :::  •*>'*: 


I 

18  A     DISCOURSE. 

own  country,"  with  fall  knowledge  that  home  missions  are  now 
neglected  for  foreign  ones,  in  a  variety  of  forms  and  circumstan 
ces  ;  bat  I  am  persuaded  that  literature  hears  such  relations  to 
society,  that  home  encouragement  may  enlarge  enjoyment  of  the 
remote  in  origin,  and  while  affording  gratification  of  curiosity  for 
what  comes  to  us  from  abroad,  correct  tastes,  and  develop  facul 
ties  which  can  reciprocate  borrowed  blessings* 

Literature,  in  the  most  enlarged  sense,  is  cosmopolitan.  It  is 
a  law  of  its  encouragement,  that  home  attention  prepares  most 
directly  and  thoroughly  for  just  appreciation  of  whatever  another 
people  produces. 

The  association  may  appear  odd,  indeed  incongruous,  but 
whenever  I  see  a  farm-house  in  one  of  our  western  valleys  with* 
out  the  protecting  shade  of  a  native  tree,  to  tell,  in  its  silent 
majesty,  how  the  wilderness  and  its  traditions  have  passed  away, 
I  am  reminded  of  that  spirit  of  indifference  which  has  chilled  the 
development  of  an  individual  literature,  fitly  representing  not 
only  the  stirring  times  when  the  Hunter  and  the  Indian  watched 
each  other,  or  the  Pioneer  took  his  rifle  into  his  new  fields,  when 
he  had  seed  to  sow  or  grain  to  reap ;  but  later  times,  in  which  a 
society,  composed  of  conflicting  elements  of  character,  needs  the 
guidance  of  genius,  that  has  studied  its  peculiarities,  and  appre 
ciates  its  opportunities. 

I  knew  a  farmer  in  Northern  Ohio,  who  had  a  promising  son* 
in-law,  on  whom  he  wished  to  make  a  marriage  settlement* 
Accordingly  he  presented  him  with  a  corner  lot,  on  which  the 
native  forest  yet  stood.  The  young  man,  wanting  to  build  a 
house  on  his  property,  made  a  "  clearing."  When  the  house 
was  ready  to  be  occupied  it  was  thickly  surrounded  with  stumps 
of  trees,  which  may  have  sheltered  the  mound-builders,  who 
perhaps  roamed  these  valleys  before  the  red  man  twanged  his 
bow  in  their  solitudes.  Where  checkered  shadows  had  changed 
and  mingled  for  centuries,  not  a  foot  of  shade  protected  the  in* 
truding  house.  Contemplating  the  ruin  he  had  made,  and 


A     DISCOURSE.  19 

knowing  what  the  example  of  his  father  and  his  father-in-law 
had  been,  he  planted  a  few  puny  shade  and  fruit  trees  in  his 
garden  and  before  his  door ;  and  consoled  with  the  attention 
they  required,  the  young  man  did  not  once  think  what  a  fool  he 
had  been,  when,  without  forecast,  he  destroyed  the  monarchs  of 
the  woods,  among  whose  boughs  the  winds  of  ancient  time  had 
sighed, 

He  was  a  blockhead,  to  be  sure ;  but  he  was  as  wise  as  his 
neighbors,  among  whom  forethought  had  been  wanting,  for  ma 
terial  beauty  and  the  enjoyment  of  natural  poetry. 

Destruction,  as  well  as  cultivation,  was  a  law  of  necessity  in 
the  pioneer  period ;  but,  while  one  was  exercised  without  judg 
ment  in  the  material  world,  the  other,  without  discretion,  has 
been  neglected  in  the  mental ;  and,  therefore,  precedent  leads 
social  circles  to  overlook  what  would  win  them  honor  and  confer 
happiness,  as  precedent  led  the  young  man,  of  whom  I  complain, 
to  be  wasteful  of  what  would  have  afforded  his  home  generous 
protection,  and  himself  refined  satisfaction.  , 

Everybody  says,  "  A  narrow  man  is  the  fancy  farmer  who 
removes  the  monarch  oak,  or  beech,  or  elm,  to  surround  his  resi 
dence  with  the  alianthus,  the  catalpa,  and  other  exotics ;"  but 
quite  as  narrow  is  the  fashionable  hero-worshiper,  who  encour- 
ages  support  in  literature,  of  that  for  which  curiosity  is  the  chief 
stimulus,  while  native  talent  and  ingenuity  go  abroad  begging. 

The  spreading  catalpa,  the  tall  poplar,  the  luxuriant  alianthus, 
adorn  our  country  gardens  and  beautify  our  town  walks ;  but  he 
who  would  strip  all  our  hills  of  their  native  crowns  and  plant 
upon  them  these  exotics,  would  act  the  part  of  a  lunatic.  Yet 
he  would  be  no  more  insane  than  w  he  who,  in  art  and  litera 
ture,  worships  strange  models,  with  affected  or  acquired  contempt 
for  whatever  originates  among  bis  own  people* 

Why  does  America  hold  high  rank  for  native  ingenuity  in 
mechanism,  and  for  energy  in  trade  and  commerce  ?  Reward 
waits  upon  effort*  Honor  and  fame  offer  immediate  premuium* 


90  A     DISCOURSE. 

for  triumph*  It  was  logical  that  the  most  direct  need*  of  the 
nation  should  first  gain  satisfaction \  but  every  energy  of  every 
circle  in  America,  need  not  now  be  wholly  and  exclusively  de 
voted  to  what  will  augment  material  wealth  and  power.  The 
amenities  of  life,  the  quiet  advantages  of  contemplative  pursuits, 
are  more  valuable,  though  less  imperative,  than  material  wealth 
or  power — more  valuable  not  only  to  individuals  but  to  commu 
nities,  because  what  they  accomplish  has  perennial  significance 
for  good,  furnishing  the  standards  by  which  the  future  always 
estimates  the  real  greatness  of  the  past. 

If  we  trace  the  paths  along  which  the  literary  hopes  of  the 
past  in  the  West  are  buried,  we  find  numerous  neglected  graves, 
around  which  long  processions  have  gathered.  The  character* 
istics,  trials,  failures,  or  successes  of  even  the  chief  mourners  in 
these  processions,  I  will  not  be  permitted  to  sketch  in  this  Lec 
ture.  Several  evenings  would  be  required  to  present  a  satisfact 
ory  review  of  the  poetical,  historical,  legendary,  legal,  medical, 
theological,  and  political  literature,  which  has  been  creditable  to 
our  society*  Only  in  a  course  of  Lectures,  would  I  undertake 
to  mention,  with  the  thinnest  outline  of  their  productions,  all  the 
respectable  writers  of  the  Wvst.  I  refer  to  them  in  a  body  now 
for  the  purpose  of  connecting  the  present  with  the  past,  in  a  few 
general  facts  which,  in  my  opinion,  possess  distinct  importance* 
From  Rufus  Wilmot  Griswold's  "Survey  of  the  Literature  of 
the  United  States,0  in  three  volumes,  regarded  by  the  most  in 
fluential  critics  as  standard  authority,  the  analytic  inquirer 
learns,  that  whatever  forms  of  inspiration  may  repose  in  the 
grand  old  forests,  or  along  the  mighty  rivers,  or  upon  the  solemn 
mountains,  or  on  the  broad  plains  of  the  West — however  fre 
quently,  in  the  old  time  gone,  its  groves  may  have  been  made 
musical  with  the  unwritten  cadences  of  aboriginal  poetry,  it  has 
not  yet  been  productive  of  pale-faced  writers* 

In  his  volume  on  "The  Prose  Writers  of  America,"  Mr.  Gria- 


A     DISCOURSE.  21 

wold  recognizes,  with  biographical  notices,  only  two  men  who 
are  identified  with  Western  Literature, 

First :  Timothy  Flint,  born  in  Massachusetts,  who  came  to 
tho  West  ns  a  Missionary ;  and  after  ten  years'  hard  service  m 
that  capacity,  chose  Literature  as  his  profession' — his  exclusive 
vocation— and  wrote  and  published  with  such  poor  pecuniary 
success,  though  a  man  of  industry  and  rare  ability,  with  a  glow 
of  poetic  fervor  in  his  style,  that  he  baa  never  had  a  legitimate 
successor. 

Second  •.  James  Hall,  born  in  Pennsylvania,  who,  like  Mr. 
Flint,  was  a  magazine  editor  and  a  writer  of  romances,  and  val 
uable  works  of  history  And  statistics  j  but,  unlike  him,  chose 
banking  instead  of  writing  for  his  vocation,  and  has  had  many 
successors,  legitimate  and  illegitimate. 

Incidentally,  Mr.  Griswold  mentions  F.  W,  Thomas,  author 
of  the  novel,  "  Clinton  Bradshaw,"  and  other  works  of  merit ; 
and  Morgan  Neville,  author  of  "  Mike  Fink,  the  Boatman,"  a 
forgotten  romance.  But,  with  these  exceptions,  the  student  of 
Literature  could  never  ascertain,  from  "standard  authority,"  that 
there  had  been  prose  writers  in  Ohio,  or  Indiana,  or  Kentucky, 
or  Illinois,  or  Michigan. 

Toward  the  Poets  of  the  West,  Mr.  Griswold  has  been  more 
liberal.  He  recognizes  Micah  P.  Flint  and  Albert  Pike,  from 
Massachusetts;  F.  W.  Thoma*,  from  Rhode  Island;  G.  D. 
Prentice,  from  Connecticut ;  Wm.  D.  Gallagher,  from  Pennsyl 
vania  ;  F.  Casby,  born  in  Kentu  ;ky,  and  Otway  Curry  and  G, 
W.  Cutter,  born  in  Ohio ;  Annie  P.  Dinnies,  from  South  Caro* 
lina ;  Laura  M.  Thurston  and  Lydia  Jane  Pierson,  from  Con 
necticut  ;  Rebecca  S.  Nichols,  from  New  Jersey ;  Amelia  Welby 
and  Margaret  S.  Bailey,  from  Virginia ;  Sophia  H.  Oliver  and 
Sarah  T.  Bolton,  born  in  Kentucky ;  Frances  A.  and  MetU 
Victoria  Fuller,  from  New  York,  and  Alice  and  Pbebe  Gary, 
born  in  Ohio. 

It  will  be  observed,  that  among  twenty  poets,  Ohio  has  orig- 


22  A     M8COUR8S. 

inal  claim  to  four — two  of  the  masculine  and  two  of  the  feminine 
gender— while  Kentucky  has  one  masculine  and  two  feminine ; 
but  that  neither  Indiana,  Illinois,  Michigan,  or  Missouri,  is  rccog- 
nixed  as  having  either  a  native  prose  writer  or  poet.  ' 

Only  those  men  who,  writing  prose  in  the  West,  pubKihtd  it 
at  (he  Mast,  have  been  considered  by  Mr.  Griswold  worthy  of 
notice ;  consequently  a  large  number,  whom  the  people  of  the 
West  should  honor  and  respect,  and  who  deserve  to  be  intro 
duced  to  every  student  of  American  Literature,  are  grossly 
blighted.  Among  them,  I  may  take  time  to  mention  Daniel 
Druke,  the  flr»t  student  of  medicine  in  Cincinnati,  and  the  first 
man  who,  from  the  Went,  called  the  aid  of  Literature  to  the 
development  of  the  natural  resources  of  the  Ohio  basin — who, 
during  a  long  life  of  remarkable  activity,  was  the  earnest  friend 
of  all  intellectual  progress ;  nnd  who,  bcMiden  an  invaluable  work 
on  the  "  I  >Unu«r*  of  the  MiMHincippi  Valley,"  1<  ft  influenced 
which  must  exurt  great  foroo  in  tho  settlement  of  the  principle! 
which  are,  hereafter,  to  guide  the  mental  and  physical  life  of  our 
people ; — James  II.  Perkins,  a  man  of  great  soul  and  high  poetic 
temperament,  who  did  signal  service  to  the  historical  literature 
of  America,  nnd  who  was  tin-  author  of  Talcs  and  Sketches, 
which  Imvo  had  nn  wld«  cJnuilution  it*  tho  Amcricun  pruiui  could 
give  them ; — Benjamin  F,  Drake,  author  of  a  "  Life  of  Black 
Hawk,"  and  a  "Life  of  Tecumseh;*'  requiring  laborious  re 
search,  and  throwing  much  light  upon  the  careers  and  charac 
ters  of  the  great  representative  men  of  the  forest;  —  E.  D. 
Mansfield,  whose  works  on  Politics,  Education  and  Biography, 
entitle  him  to  most  respectful  consideration :  not  to  speak  of 
Burnet  and  Hildreth  of  Ohio,  Marshall  and  Butler  of  Kentucky, 
Dillon  of  Indiana,  Ford  of  Illinois,  and  others,  in  a  list  longer 
than  I  dare  now  repeat,  who  have  made  contributions  to  history 
no  less  important  than  many  to  which  the  " standard  authority" 
I  have  spoken  of,  pays  respectful  deference. 


'     .  A      DISCOURSE.  23 

But  Mr.  Griswold  is  not  alone  in  his  disregard  of  the  literary 
claims  of  the  West. 

A  "Cyclopedia  of  American  Literature"  was  published  in 
New  York  in  1855.*  Its  editors  are  Everet  A.  and  G.  L. 
Ducykink,  who  for  several  years  conducted  the  Literary  World, 
a  recognized  organ  of  literary  information  and  discussion.  They 
claim  most  decidedly  to  represent  the  literature  of  the  nation, 
past  and  present.  Let  us  inquire  into  their  fairness  respecting 
"out  West." 

Twenty-three  persons,  whose  names  are,  or  have  been,  identi 
fied  with  western  literature,  are  recognized  in  the  Cyclopedia-— 
sixteen  asprose  writers,  and  seven  as  poets.  Among  these  per 
sons  are  Lewis  Cass,  Thos.  II.  Benton,  Henry  Clay,  Dr.  Chas, 
Caldwell  and  Bishop  Philander  Chase,  but  neither  Otway  Curry, 
George  W.  Cutter,  E.  D.  Mansfield,  John  B.  Dillon,  Thos.  H, 
Shreve,  Judge  Jacob  Burnet,  S,  P.  Hildreth,  Timothy  Walker 
of  Cincinnati,  I,  B.  Walker  the  theologian,  Rev,  Edward 
Thomson  of  Delaware,  W.  W.  Fosdick,  Rebecca  S,  Nichols, 
Sarah  T.  Bolton,  Metta  Victoria  Fuller,  Mrs.  Ruter  Defour,  or 
Annie  P.  Dinnies,  are  regarded  with  the  briefest  mention. 
They,  and  all  of  lesser  note  who  write  "  out  West,"  independent 
of  certain  city  cliques,  are  even  behind  Franklin  Pierco,  whose 
name  indeed  appears  in  the  index,  because  Nathaniel  Hawthorne 
wrote  his  biography. 

The  Cyclopedia  recognizes  two  poets  native  to  Ohio — Alice 
and  Phebe  Cary ;  one  poet  native  to  Kentucky — William  Rosa 
Wallace;  one  prose  writer  native  to  Illinois — John  L.  McCon- 
nt-li,  author  of  the  novel  "  Talbot  and  Vernon,"  and  one  prose 
writer  rative  to  Kentucky — C.  W.  Webber,  the  "  Hunter  Natur 
alist;"  but  with  these  exceptions,  the  world  is  left  in  ignorance, 
so  far  as  the  Cyclopedia  of  American  Literature  can  leave  it,  of 
native  talent  for  authorship  in  any  Western  State. 

•  By  Ch»r le»  Sen bu«r . 


24  A     DISCOURSE. 

j 

The  Pucykinks  hftv«  done  justice  to  a  few  men  and  women 
whom  Griswold  overlooks,  and  they  have  slighted  others  whom 
he  recognizes.  But,  without  fear  of  successful  contradiction,  1 
affirm  that  neither  Griswold's  Survey  of  American  Literature, 
in  three  volumes,  nor  Ducykink's  Cyclopedia,  in  two  vojume*, 
nor  both  together,  can  be  given  credit  for  due  respect  to  west 
ern  authorship,  while  they  exhibit  active  diligence  in  "  making 
a  good  show  "  for  all  the  giants  and  many  of  the  dwarfs  of  east* 
era  authordom. 

Looking  outside  of  mere  literary  circles,  let  us  inquire  of  east* 
ern  fairness  toward  western  men.  In  1857,  Appleton's  publish* 
ing  house  of  New  York  issued  two  American  Cyclopedias— one 
of  Eloquence,  one  of  Wit  and  Humor. 

In  the  Cyclopedia  of  American  Eloquence,  the  only  western 
man  mentioned,  excepting  Henry  Clay,  is  Tecumseh,  but  eastern 
men  not  half  so  well  known  for  eloquence  as  Tecumseh's  con 
queror  at  Tippecnnoe,  have  the  honor  of  biographical  notices, 
with  select  passages  from  their  speeches. 

In  the  Cyclopedia  of  "  Wit  and  Humor,0  something  nearer 
justice  is  done  western  talent,  because  Micah  P.  Flint,  Geo.  W. 
Bradbury,  James  Hall,  Sol.  Smith,  Geo.  D.  Prentice,  J.  M. 
Field  (Everpoint),  J.  S,  Robb  (Solitaire),  J.  L.  McConnell,  and 
J.  V.  Watson  are  honorably  mentioned  j  but  had  the  same  dili 
gence  in  the  pursuit  of  wit  and  humor  been  exercised  for  the 
west  that  has  been  for  the  east,  I  could  quote  other  names  from 
Mr.  Burton's  Cyclopedia. 

Permit  still  another  illustration  of  the  fact  that  either  on  ac 
count  of  ignorance  or  of  illiberal  spirit,  critics  and  compilers 
"down  east"  do  injustice  to  the  "great  west." 

In  1858,  D.  Appleton  &  Co.  published  "The  Household  Book 
of  Poetry"  compiled  and  edited  by  Charles  A.  Dana,  one  of  the 
editors  of  the  New  York  Tribune.  In  his  preface  the  editor 
says  that  he  undertook  to  "  comprise  within  the  bounds  of  a 
single  volume  whatever  is  truly  beautiful  and  admirable  among 


A     D  I  8  C  O  U  K  8  E ,  25 

the  minor  poems  of  the  English  language,"  and  he  claims  to 
have  developed  "a  considerable  store  of  treasures  hitherto  less 
known  to  the  general  public  than  to  scholars  and  to  limited  cir 
cles,"  from  "  careful  and  prolonged  research  in  the  current  re 
ceptacles  of  fugitive  poets,"  He  claims,  also,  that  it  has  been 
his  constant  endeavor  "  to  exercise  a  catholic  as  well  as  a  severe 
taste ;  and  to  judge  every  piece  by  its  poetical  merit  solely, 
without  regard  to  the  name,  nationality  or  epoch  of  the  author." 

It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  the  people  of  the  West  who  are 
expected — at  least  several  thousand  of  them — to  be  purchasers 
of  Mr.  Dana's  book,  are  familiar  with  poem*,  from  writers  within 
their  circle  of  acquaintance,  which  are  quite  as  good  as  many  of 
those  that  have  been  selected  by  him  as  poems  of  Nature— of 
Childhood — of  Friendship — of  Love — of  Ambition— of  Come 
dy—of  Tragedy  and  Sorrow— of  the  Imagination — of  SentU 
ment  and  of  Reflection— or  of  Religion, 

The  poems  for  which  we. make  this  claim  are  not  "fugitive 
pieces,"  merely,  that  have  gone  the  u  rounds  of  the  papers,"  but 
may  be  found  in  books  with  which,  it  is  fair  to  presume,  Mr, 
Dana,  as  an  editor  of  a  leading  journal,  if  not  as  the  editor  of  a 
book  of  household  poetry,  ought  to  be  familiar.  Alice  Cary, 
Mrs.  R.  8.  Nichols,  Mrs.  S.  T.  Bolton,  Geo.  D.  Prentice,  W.  D. 
Gallagher,  James  II,  Perkins,  John  B.  Dillon,  Gco.  W,  Cutter, 
Otway  Curry,  F.  W,  Thomas,  and  others  we  might  name,  who 
are  yet  young,  are  not  poets  of  mere  local  reputation,  or  authors 
of  "  fugitive  pieces,"  only.  None  of  them  are  quoted  by  Mr. 
Dana.  The  only  person  quoted  who  is  recognized  as  western, 
is  Mrs.  Amelia  Welby.  Her  M  Old  Made  "  is  given  as  a  poem 
of  'sentiment  and  reflection. 

We  invite  the  curious  to  look  at  Mr.  Dana's  book,  and  then 
consider  whether  Alice  Gary's  "Pictures  of  Memory" — George 
D.  Prentice's  «  Lines  to  my  Wife,"  or  "The  Closing  Year"— 
Otway  Curry's  "  Kingdom  Come,"  or  "  The  Going*  Forth  of 
God" — F.  W.  Thomas's  song,  "Tig  said  that  Absence  Conquers 


26  A    DISCOURSE* 

Love"— W.  D.  Gallagher's  « August,"  or  his  lines  to  Autumn, 
in  his  poem  on  "  The  Miami  Woods/'  or  his  u  Conservative,"  or 
"  Laborer,"  or  Coates  Kinney's  «  Rain  on  the  Roof,"  are  not 
quite  as  good  as  much  written  in  New  York  or  Bo  ton,  or  there* 
abouts,  to  which  "  Household  Poetry"  gives  consideration.  > 
While  making  these  analyses  of  unfairness  to  talent  identified 
with  the  West,  I  do  not  forget  that  whatever  may  be  true  re 
specting  lack  of  information,  or  partiality,  on  the  part  of  "  stand* 
ard  authorities  "  for  American  literature,  the  fact  remains  clear 
that  the  great  central  valley  has  not  been  signally  distinguished 
by  native  genius  in  poetry,  romance,  or  history,  not  because 
talent  or  genius  has  been  wanting — not  because  inspiration  has 
been  absent,  but  chiefly  because  repose  has  been  denied — time 
to  individuals  for  study  and  labor— time  to  the  people  for  mel 
lowing  influences  which  impress  popular  opinion  with  respect 
for  the  noblest  forms  of  mental  force,  and  stimulate  inquiry  for 
delights  from  a  calm  and  lofty  sphere* 

The  pioneer  period  of  the  North-west  was  remarkably  a 
period  of  all-absorbing  material  demand,  and  it  was  brief* 

Sixty-six  years  ago*  the  first  newspaper  was  published  in  the 
North-west;  fifty  years  ago|  the  first  book  was  printed  here. 
Of  all  the  men  and  women  who  have  labored  significantly  for 
literature  in  the  great  valley,  not  ten  lave  been  called  to  the 
higher  life*  The  others  are  yet  with  us,  and  it  is  not  too  late  to 
show  them  that  they  are  cherished,  and  will  be  remembered 
with  gratitude* 

We  may  regret  that  our  literary  pioneers  did  not  meet  wider 
encouragement  and  ampler  reward,  but  we  need  not  complain, 
unless  we  take  care  that  the  future  does  not  have  reason'  to 
complain  of  us.  Knowing  what  the  past  ha*  been,  we  may  con* 
fidently  appeal  to  the  present  for  the  future. 

What  has  the  past  been  ?    Discouraging,  as  I  have  shown  it— 

•  1793.  t  1809. 


A     DISCOURSE,  27 

disheartening,  unjust  to  enterprise  and  industry  which  aimed  to 
enrich  its  mental  character,  but  opulent,  bountiful  in  all  materi 
als  for  poetry,  for  romance,  and  for  history, 

The  west  has  a  new  opportunity.  This  central  valley  is  the 
heart  of  the  Republic,  and  it  may  give  tone  to  the  entire  system. 
%  It  is  the  glory  of  our  institutions,  not  only  that  they  open  op 
portunity  for  the  forming  hand,  but  that  they  educate  the  in 
forming  spirit.  Removed  from  the  direct  influences  of  the  old 
world — with  intimate  relations  to  the  South,  to  the  East,  and  to 
the  Great  West,  beyond  the  Mississippi — with  a  past  mysteri 
ous,  awe-inspiring — remarkable  for  potent  results — with  a  pres 
ent  active,  buoyant,  intelligent — with  a  future  full  of  promise,  if 
the  central  valley,  of  the  heart  of  which  the  homes  of  this  au 
dience  are  a  part,  must  continue  subordinate  in  any  of  the  fun 
damental  activities  of  civilization,  it  will  only  be  because  the 
people  are  untrue  to  themselves. 

I  speak  advisedly  when  I  say  there  is  brilliant  promise  for 
noble  achievement  in  all  the  highest  walks  of  literature,  in 
native  mind  which  now  asks  direction. 

As  citizens,  as  friends,  best  policy  and  noblest  principle  de 
mand  of  us  that  we  require  society  to  begin  to  make  whomever 
has  a  thought  of  value,  understand  that  at  home  recognition  will 
be  given  it,  whether  it  is  good  for  the  soil,  or  the  shop,  the  office 
or  the  parlor— whether  it  shall  culminate  in  a  plow,  A  new 
motor,  a  poem,  an  oration,  a  history  or  a  statue. 

Provided  with  capabilities  for  erual  rights,  in  opportunity,  for 
all  its  citizens,  let  the  West  aspire  to  set  the  glorious  example 
which  just  Republicanism  contemplates — the  successful  working 
of  a  social  system  based  on  goodness  and  truth  among  men,  who 
cultivate  the  "  memorable,  the  progressive,  and  the  beautiful," 
whether  they  are  what  the  world  calls  workers  or  thinkers. 

If  tradition  be  credited,  there  was  a  literature  in  the  West 
before  the  rifle's  report  and  the  woodman's  ax  displaced  the  war- 
whoop  and  the  twang  of  the  bow — before  smiling  fields  appeared, 


23  A     IMS  COURSE. 

wher«  deep  groves  had  for  centuries  welcomed  sunshine,  and 
invited  shower*. 

If  the  red  men  had  a  touch  of  poetry  in  their  manners  and 
customs,  as  well  as  oratory  in  their  councils,  from  character 
stamped  by  the  inspiration  of  nature,  shall  white  men  fail,  out  of 
civilization,  to  attract  regard  for  higher  achievements  than  those 
which  satisfy  mere  physical  necessities  ? 

The  West  has  now  shaping  for  homogeneousness,  elements  of 
character  impressed  with  the  individuality  of  its  own  early  period, 
and  with  ancient  civilization  from  the  maturest  nations,  and  all 
being  quickened  by  the  spirit  of  modern  progress— commerce 
having  its  pressing  demands  satisfied,  trade  and  manufactures 
enjoying  far-reaching  triumphs  of  genius — circumstances  con 
spire  to  demand  of  the  people  of  to-day,  literary  development 
which  shall  bring  to  us  honor  and  respect  as  abundantly  as  no 
toriety  for  wheat  and  whisky,  for  corn  and  pork,  brings  now  to 
us  dollars  and  dimes. 

The  epic,  the  lyric,  the  pastoral,  repose  in  tradition,  and  in 
legend  and  story — in  groves  and  prairies— -in  rivers  and  cascades 
—in  fruitful  valleys,  and  on  picturesque  hills ;  history  lives  in 
our  progress ;  romance  is  an  ever-pervading  spirit  of  our  valleys 
and  water-courses  and  hill-sides ;  but  it  will  remain  unwritten 
history,  or  poetry,  or  romance,  except  under  spasmodic  influen- 
ces,  or  with  spasmodic  effort,  and  the  people  of  the  West  will 
win  scornful  censure,  unless  they  encourage,  with  pen  and  purse, 
and  good  will  and  good  words,  instrumentalities  which  are  com* 
petent  to  individualize  a  Western  Literature* 

Literature  is  chief  among  teachers ;  it  preserves  the  past  and 
cultivates  the  present*  Its  development  is  highest  among  a 
people's  honors.  That  people  which  invites  rich  gifts,  in  poetry 
and  history  and  romance,  from  all  other  people,  taking  no  pains 
to  reciprocate  favors  and  cancel  obligations,  is  weaker  and 
meaner  than  an  individual  who  will  accept  presents,  to  which 
neither  courtesy  nor  charity  entitles  him* 


A     DISCOURSE.  29 

Young  Men's  Literary  Societies,  with  libraries  and  lectures, 
discussions  and  essays,  have  been  organized  in  nearly  all  of  our 
towns  and  cities,  They  are  an  outgrowth  of  intelligent  senti 
ment,  fostered  in  our  colleges,  seminaries,  and  high  schools. 
Professors  and  Teachers,  in  a  large  degree,  command  their  in 
terest  and  usefulness  for  the  future, 

From  college  halls  and  school  rooms,  in  which  compositions 
are  read  and  discussions  and  declamations  are  heard,  convictions 
and  incentives  may  go  out,  which,  in  the  next  generation,  can 
accomplish  for  a  home  literature  all  I  have  demanded — all  I 
have  hoped — in  this  Discourse, 

May  I  not  appeal  to  this  audience  for  thoughtful  consideration 
of  what  I  have  urged — for  executive  interest  and  local  pride  in 
a  local  Literature  ?  Societies,  such  as  that  I  now  address,  are 
potent  for  literary  culture.  They  have  weighty  responsibility. 
They  can  stimulate  local  pride  in  local  poetry,  and  romance  and 
history,  Let  each  member  bear  actively  in  mind,  that  it  is 
nobler  to  develop  new  thought  than  to  circulate  old ;  that  the 
capacity  which  produces  is  grander  than  that  which  enjoys. 


THE     POETS 


JLND 


POETEY  OF  THE  WEST. 


WITH  BIOGRAPHICAL  AND  CRITICAL  NOTICES, 


THIS  work,  the  first  of  a  series  designed  to  present  a  com 
plete  Survey  of  the  Literature  of  the  "West,  will  be  issued 
previous  to  the  Holidays  for  the  present  year. 

It  will  contain  about  600  octavo  pages  ;-will  be  printed  on 
superior  paper,  in  tlie  best  style,  and  will  be  sold  only  by  sub 
scription.  Price  $3.25. 

Literary  Gentlemen  and  Ladies  in  all  of  the  North- Westeru 
States,  including  Kentucky  and  Missouri,  are  earnestly  invited 
to  forward  hints,  or  suggestions  or  fact*,  which  they  may  esteem 
valuable. 

All  contributions  will  be  gratefully  acknowledged. 

Address  '   , 

FOLLETT,  FOSTER  &  CO., 

PCBLtftHERC, 

,  Ohio. 


toy  3JCa.il. 


FOLLETT,  FOSTER  &  CO.'S  BOOK-LIST. 

A  WOMAN'S  THOUGHTS  ABOUT  WOMEN. 

By  tho  Author  of  "  John  Halifax."    Price  $1.00. 

HOME    HITS    AND    HINTS. 

By  W.  T.  COOGESIIALL,  Ohio  State  Librarian,  &c.    1  TO!.  12mo.    Price  $1. 

MORALITY   AND   THE    STATE. 

By  Judge  SIMEON  NASH.    1  vol.    Price  $1.26. 

MABEL;    OR,    HEART    HISTORIES. 

By  ROSKLIA  RICE,    1  vol.    Price  $1.00. 

LIFE    IN    TUSCANY. 

1  vol.  12mo.    Price  $1.00. 

THE.  EXILES   OF    FLORIDA. 

By  Hou.  J.  It.  GIUDINOS.    1vol.    Prico  $1.00. 


<:  IN*    3PRESS: 

A  KKW  EDITION  OV 

A   BUCKEYE    ABROAD. 

By  Hou.  8.  S.  Cox.     1  vol.  12mo.     Price  $1.25. 

A  FAMILIAR  FORENSIC  VIEW  OF  MAN  &  LAW. 

By  R.  B.  WARDEN,  late  Judge  of  Supreme  Court  of  Ohio.    1  vol.  octavo. 

BEAUTIES   OF    FESTUS. 

1  vol.  IGmo.    Green  and  Gold. 

HISTORY  OF   THE   TRIA-L  BY  JURY. 

By  W.  A.  FOKSVTH,  M.A.    With  Notes  by  u  Member  of  the  Ohio  Bar. 

FRONTIER  LIFE  AND  CHARACTER. 

Oue  large  12 mo. 

AFRICAN    TRAVEL; 

From  Park  to  Livingstone. 

HEROES  OF  THE  INDIAN  REBELLION.     . 

With  Illustrations. 


Any  of  the  above  will  be  sent  by  mail,  post-paid,  on  receipt  of  the  Re 
tail  price. 

FOLLETT,  TOSTEB  &  CO.,  PmblUhert, 

High,  Pearl  Sf  Chapel  StreAi, 
COLUMBUS,  Ouio. 

•rfr-  Agent*  wanted  to  circulate  those  of  our  books  sold  by  subscription 
only. 


-  , 


RETURN     CIRCULATION  DEPARTMENT 

TO—  *      202  Main  Library 

LOAN  PERIOD  1 
HOME  USE 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

ALL  BOOKS  MAY  BE  RECALLED  AFTER  7  DAYS 

1  -month  loans  may  be  renewed  by  calling  642-3405 

6-month  loans  may  be  recharged  by  bringing  books  to  Circulation  Desk 

Renewals  and  recharges  may  be  made  4  days  prior  to  due  date 

DUE  AS  STAMPED  BELOW 


UC  INTERLIBRAR\ 

maw 

l^f^ft  f\  r->    4  f\t 

FEB  2  V  19* 

IT 

UNIV.  OF  CALIF., 

JERK. 

Received  in  Interti 

rary  Livdf) 

MM>3?,1 

)84 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA,  BERKELEY 
FORM  NO.  DD6,  60m,  12/80        BERKELEY,  CA  94720 

®$ 


